Jim Grant, Grant’s Interest Rate Observer

In a section entitled “Other Friends,” in his recently published book “Stay the Course: The Story of Vanguard and the Index Revolution,” Bogle wrote: “Today’s list of my best friends is quite extensive enough … and surely diverse enough.” Among them was an editor, “a brilliant observer of interest rates.”

That editor was Jim Grant, who founded Grant’s Interest Rate Observer, a twice-monthly journal of the financial markets, in 1983, two years after interest rates recorded their modern-day highs.

“Jack Bogle was a longstanding subscriber to Grant’s, and I took enormous pride in that fact,” Grant told Barron’s. “Knowing that the index-fund revolutionist and prolific author was reading, I believe that I wrote better than I otherwise might have done—wouldn’t you, too, have tried harder? One early morning in February 2018, while rushing to make a connecting flight at Los Angeles International Airport, I overheard a passerby remark to his companion, “They ought to build a statue to Jack Bogle.” Maybe now they will.”

Cliff Asness, AQR Capital Management

In 2000, Cliff Asness, the hedge fund manager and founder of AQR Capital Management, received a note commenting on his paper “Bubble Logic: Or, How to Learn to Stop Worrying and Love the Bull.” Thus began a nearly 20 year friendship with Jack Bogle. The pair, both prolific writers on financial topics, routinely critiqued each other’s drafts. They did joint interviews. Bogle’s foreword to the e-book about AQR’s 20th anniversary included this classic observation: “I have a slight lead in the number of published journal articles: Cliff has had 15 papers in [Journal of Portfolio Management] and nine more in [Financial Analysts Journal], for a total 24—just shy of my 28. Alas, Cliff has more years left than I do to publish additional papers.”

“Though we knew it was imminent, the day we lost Jack, nevertheless, still felt shocking,” Asness wrote in an email to Barron’s. “While perhaps unlikely, given our age and investing style differences (everyone knows an indexer and a quant active manager can’t be friends right?), we had become quite close over the years. He was such a force for good, and had such vitality, it’s difficult to imagine the world without him. He was one of the last heroes and one of the last old-school gentlemen. And up to the very last he was working! He was writing his business memoir (and a history of Vanguard) and commenting widely and, of course, honestly and bravely, on the burning investing issues of the day. Put simply, no single person has ever done more for investors while asking less for himself. Nobody comes within a mile. We won’t see his like again.”

Don Phillips, Morningstar

Don Phillips, one of Morningstar’s earliest employees, later became one of its most prominent senior executives and a powerful voice for the individual investor. He is now managing director at Morningstar.

Phillips became friends with Jack Bogle during Bogle 2.0, when the father of the index fund became an influential speaker and author.

“Investors have lost a great champion,” Phillips said. “Still, what Jack created lives on and his positive impact will continue to benefit investors for generations to come.”

He went on:

“My favorite memory of Jack was being with him at one of the early Boglehead events. Jack was so genuinely touched by that group’s love and support and he relished the stories they shared with him about how his teachings had made them better investors and had allowed them to achieve greater financial security.

I recall joining Jack at a high-rise condo overlooking beautiful Miami at night and the owner, Taylor, told Jack that he was able to retire to that lovely spot based on his investment gains from Vanguard funds. Jack was clearly touched.

I realized then that Jack had, in effect, traded the hundreds of millions of dollars that he might have pocketed by running Vanguard as a conventional asset management firm for interactions like these. To him, helping ordinary people realize a bit of their dreams was his greatest reward. It was a trade off that any of his peers could have made, but none but Jack did. And in many ways, he dies a far richer man than many of them. He truly lived a wonderful life, a modern day Frank Capra story that we were blessed to witness.”

Peter Fitzgerald, former Republican Senator of Illinois,

Peter Fitzgerald met Jack Bogle when Fitzgerald, then a U.S. Senator from Illinois, was holding hearings on the mutual fund market timing scandals of the early 2000s. “Jack Bogle ended up being my star witness,” Fitzgerald told Barron’s.

Fitzgerald retired in 2005, and was succeeded by Barack Obama. He is the founder and chairman of McLean, Va.-based Chain Bridge Bank.

“In 2003, Jack starred at Senate hearings I held on the mutual fund industry,” Fitzgerald recalled. “Following the hearings, I worked with Jack to craft a mutual fund industry reform bill. On Feb. 10, 2004, I introduced the Mutual Fund Reform Act of 2004. Of course the Investment Company Institute went berserk. Jack testified at more Senate hearings in 2004 and publicly advocated for the bill. The ICI and fund industry bitterlyfought the bill.”

He went on:

“The bill ultimately couldn’t overcome the ICI’s opposition in the Senate, but Jack’s brilliant advocacy shed a spotlight on the need for reform and helped prompt the [Securities and Exchange Commission] to act. By the end of 2004, the SEC had adopted rules administratively addressing 17 of the provisions in the bill, including provisions on director independence, fund governance, fee and compensation disclosure, and a prohibition of directed brokerage. Some of the SEC’s 2004 final rules on investment companies:

The 2003-2004 legislative and administrative battles are now all obscure fund industry history. But before these reforms, the fund industry had little transparency and many built-in conflicts and average fund fees in America were still going up, not down. I really think these reforms helped pave the way for free market competition to work its magic on the fund industry – and fund fees have been coming down ever since. Imagine how much money that has saved the over 100 million Americans who own mutual funds.

Jack was one of the finest men I’ve ever known. It was certainly the highlight of my career in the Senate to work with him.”

Michael Nolan, Bogle Financial Markets Research Center

Jack Bogle’s emergence as a writer and public speaker was greatly supported by a small analytical team and staff at Bogle Financial Markets Research Center, housed at Vanguard’s headquarters just outside Philadelphia. In his recently published book “Stay the Course: The Story of Vanguard and the Index Revolution,” Bogle wrote of analyst Michael Nolan, assistant Emily Snyder, and associate Kathy Younker: “Could this book about Vanguard and the index revolution—written by the founder of both—have been published without their enthusiastic participation and infinite patience? Maybe. But it would have been less of a book—far more arduous—have taken far longer, and been far less fun.”

Nolan shared his remembrance of Bogle with Barron’s:

“The first time I met Jack was on my way to the galley (our nautical-themed name for the cafeteria). I was about to open the door to the building when I saw Jack Bogle coming through the door. I went to grab the handle to hold the door for him, and he said “Oh no, let me hold the door for you!” His kindness, his humility, his grace, and his genuine caring for the crew became absolutely clear in that moment. I had only been at Vanguard a short time, but I knew then that I was in the right place. I wouldn’t meet Jack again for several more years.

In early 2011, I was ready for the next step in my career at Vanguard. I took a peek at our internal job postings and saw an opening in Jack Bogle’s group. Being a big admirer of Jack and his accomplishments, I decided I had nothing to lose by going for the job. After an initial screening process by HR, I went to Jack’s office for an interview. I was terribly nervous, but as soon as I sat down in Jack’s office, his disarming demeanor put me at ease. It’s a bit of a blur, I don’t remember exactly what I said (or even if I said much at all!), but it must have been ok as here I am seven-plus years later. It took several years of his insistence, but I finally got over my instinctive reverence and began to call him “Jack” rather than “Mr. Bogle.”

When people asked me what I do for Jack, I often say “whatever he needed.” I helped Jack stay informed by gathering and analyzing data for him—largely data regarding trends in the mutual fund industry (assets and cash flows, fund performance, etc.). While Jack was adamant about doing his own writing in his own voice, I helped with editing and helping to shape the content of his writings. In short, I made sure he was prepared to do whatever it was he needed to do on any given day.

One of the things that impressed me the most about Jack was the way he treated people. He was incredibly kind and gracious to those he met day-to-day. While he never backed down from a challenge and was always ready to stand firm for his beliefs, he never—never—punched down. You can see a glimmer of this at the bottom of page 270 of his new book Stay the Course. He wrote a “shout-out” to two of his favorite ladies who work in Vanguard’s galley. The mutual affection is as genuine as it is infectious. When I saw Jack treat people well, it inspired me to emulate him as best I can. He was truly a remarkable man.

Jack was truly a special man. I’ve never met anyone quite like him. He was the physical embodiment of the term fiduciary—a man who was single-mindedly and genuinely dedicated to serving the needs of his clients first. He was responsible for what is probably the most important financial innovation of the past century—the index fund. Indexing will continue to be the foundation of financial security for millions of investors worldwide. And the truly mutual, client-owned structure that Jack created aligns the interests of Vanguard with those of our clients in a way that is still unique in the industry. Jack is a true American hero.

In his later years, Jack was a tireless evangelist for Vanguard and index investing. After stepping down as Senior Chairman of Vanguard in 2000, he wrote 10 of his 12 books, 20 of his 28 academic articles for the Financial Analysts Journal and the Journal of Portfolio Management, and hundreds of speeches and op-eds. The common theme through all of these writings is his consistent message that endures no matter what the market does: keep costs low, maintain broad diversification, and stay focused on the long term. Whenever volatility struck the markets, Jack’s phone rang off the hook with media requests. I suspect that’s because Jack was so well-known for turning down the temperature and encouraging investors to focus on what really matters.

Much of Jack’s time in recent years was spent connecting with Vanguard’s crew (our term for employees) and our clients in one-on-one or small-group settings. He helped maintain and spread Vanguard’s culture, which is focused on the “down-to-earth, honest-to-God human beings” whom Vanguard serves—both our clients and our crew. He was endlessly charming and had a smile and an anecdote for anyone who walked into his office.

Even well into his 80s, Jack never shied away from away from a good fight. A few years ago, he delivered a speech at a conference attended by about 200 corporate directors in New York. He railed against their lack of oversight of our nation’s corporations, against their failure to see the misbehavior going on under their noses (such as Enron and the mutual fund time-zone trading scandals), and against out-of-control compensation for corporate management on their watch. After spending an hour pointing out all the things they’ve done wrong, they rewarded him with a standing ovation! He had the courage to stand for what he believes in, no matter what the consequences.

Our world would be much better off with 1,000 more people like Jack Bogle. Unfortunately for the rest of us, the mold was broken when Jack came along.”

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